The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled competent, consenting adults have the right to doctor-assisted suicide.

As the country waits for the assisted death law to come into effect, there are questions whether access will be provided by all health-care centres.

Several publicly funded Catholic palliative care facilities in Ontario have stated they will not provide assisted deaths.

“All taxpayer-funded hospitals should be obligated to provide the constitutional right to assisted suicide. People need to stop focusing on themselves and focus on the patient at the most vulnerable time of their lives. Everyone needs to think of the patient as their North Star,” Shanaaz Gokool, CEO of Dying With Dignity Canada, said.

“These institutions shouldn’t have the right to object. The Catholics may object. People have different beliefs, but should they have the moral right to refuse a charter right? It is the height of indignity to refuse those who meet the requirement.”

Leslie Shepherd, with St. Michael’s Hospital, declined “at this time” to give the hospital’s position on the issue.

St. Joseph’s Health Centre didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Gokool fears Toronto Grace Health Centre, with about 20 palliative care beds, will deny the service because it is operated by the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army is on the record as stating it would be “morally wrong” to provide any assisted death.

“As to the future of the Toronto Grace Health Centre and our other health facilities, we are continuing to dialogue with all levels of government and we remain hopeful that the forthcoming legislation will enable us to continue providing long-term, palliative and hospice care,” the Salvation Army’s John McAlister said.

“It would be difficult for us to continue operating our palliative and hospice care services if we were mandated to provide physician-assisted death within our facilities.”

Prof. Kerry Bowman, a bioethicist at the University of Toronto in the department of family and community medicine, says at this point, it’s unknown the number of patients that would request assisted death.

“It would be great to accommodate Catholic hospitals and we should if we can, but can they accept public money and not provide (assisted death)? Does the right of the patient trump institutionalized faith?” Bowman asked.

Microbiologist Dr. Donald Low, who was Toronto’s beacon during the 2003 SARS crisis, advocated for assisted death before dying in 2013.

His widow, Maureen Taylor, says Catholic hospitals already have agreements not to provide abortions and she believes they will also be able to opt out of physician-assisted deaths.

“Only faith-based institutions should be able to opt out, but I feel that has to be looked at as an access-based issue. If it is a geographical remote area with only a Catholic institution, that wouldn’t fly,” said Taylor, co-chairman of the Provincial-Territorial Expert Advisory Group on Physician-Assisted Dying.

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled competent, consenting adults have the right to doctor-assisted suicide.

As the country waits for the assisted death law to come into effect, there are questions whether access will be provided by all health-care centres.

Several publicly funded Catholic palliative care facilities in Ontario have stated they will not provide assisted suicides.

“All taxpayer-funded hospitals should be obligated to provide the constitutional right to assisted suicide. People need to stop focusing on themselves and focus on the patient at the most vulnerable time of their lives. Everyone needs to think of the patient as their North Star,” Shanaaz Gokool, CEO of Dying With Dignity Canada, said.